I doubt Stephen was thinking of Gilligan’s Island or The Flinstones when he used the term “genuine classic”. There are many episodes of M*A*S*H that are pure dreck, all from “The Alan Alda Show” years. I do agree with you Stephen, the third season of Man From U.N.C.L.E. is pretty dire.

I’ve always felt that nearly every show that made the switch from black and white to color went to hell. Many of those shows are classics, yet many of their episodes are crummy.

Gilligan’s Island — which others have mentioned — was always stupid, but the black and white ones are the good kind of stupid. The color ones usually stink on ice. Same goes for Bewitched, I Dream Of Jeannie, Beverly Hillbillies, even The Andy Griffith Show. Think of that last one — black and white, Barney Fife; color, Howard Sprague.

When I was a kid, I was a huge Wild Wild West fan. Even at 9, I usually opted to go outside and play kickball if it was a color one.

However, when I think of the color UNCLEs, I feel for you. Some of those are nasty.

I love how some of my carefully wrought 2,000-word pieces get no response, but a throwaway screen grab of one dancing gorilla plus a constipated Robert Vaughn nets four comments and counting!

I’m not sure I agree that color is the culprit, but the switchover in 1965-66 definitely coincides with an overall stupidification of TV that lasted for some time. There’s plenty of shows that fit your pattern — VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, THE FUGITIVE, etc. — although UNCLE was probably a show that should’ve been in color. It’s just that they unfortunately decided to start adding suckiness around the same time.

It wasn’t the change to color that made it bad, it was the change in producers. The second season was pretty good and then they tried to get it back to that in the fourth season but it was too late. Another episode that rivals this one for worst ever would be “The Super Colossal Affair” where Illya rides a giant stink bomb.